Tube-cleaner.



No. 710,798'. Patented ont. 7, |902.l

F. NowoTNY.

TUBE CLEANER.

('Ap'plication led July 2, 1900.)

(No Model.)

, l v ,f /fd w y@ JW@ 4: sonms PETERS cu. Pnorouw o., WASHINGTON, n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

FRANZ NOVOTNY, OF BERNBURG, GERMANY.

`'TUBE-CLEANER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 710,798, dated October 7, 1902. Application filed July 2,1900. Serial No. 22,354. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom t Huey concer-12,: A

Be it known that I, FRANZ NowoTNY, a subject of the Emperor of Germany, residing at Bernburg, in the Duchy of Anhalt and Empire of Germany, have invented anew and use-Y ful Improvement in Tube-Cleaners, of which the following is a specification. y y l The present invention relates to an apparatus for scraping out incrusted tubes, consisting of a cutting or boring toolwhich is set in rotation and driven forward at the same time by means of steam, water, air, or the like under pressure.

The invention consists in the combination of the cutting or boring tool with spiral channels through which the steam, water, or air passes with a surplus pressure of from about two to six atmospheres and drives forward spirally the cutting or drilling tool. The water, tbc., washes the cutting surfaces of the tool and cleans them from the bits deposited thereon and forces them out of the tube.

The invention chiefly applies to the clean ing of incrusted tubes in which deposits have been made on the inner walls of the tube by precipitation of the linid passing through itsuch as occurs, for instance, with water containing lime or iron. Into such tubes to be cleaned the cutting or drilling tool is inserted and water, steam, or air admitted under a pressure of several atmospheres. In consequence of this pressure the tool is driven forward and rotated at the same time, so that it penetrates into the deposits, filling up the tube not in a straight line but spirally.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l shows the tool in side elevation in the section of a tube. The tool is shown as constructed with cutting edges or knives, such as are necessary to break ofi hard deposits. Fig. 2 is a modification of the apparatus in which pins or spines are arranged, such as are preferable for cleaning incrusted pipes or removing soft deposits. Fig. 3 illustrates the apparatus as a combination of two such tools, in which the first tool penetrates into the hard deposit and loosens it and the succeeding tool cleans out the tube and smooths the sides. The coupling of the two tools by means of a double connecting-link allows the tools to be adjusted with regard to each other so that vthe tube can be drawn back again.

curves up to ninety degrees in the tube can be passed throu'g A indicates the wall of the tube, and B the deposit ,collected inside it.

The apparatus Aconsists of the cutting-tool or borer C, which freely revolves on the axle a by nieansoffball-bearings b, which aresupported by the set rings c, irmlyjoined to the axle (t. A loop e, also runningin ball-bearings d, serves for attaching a cord with which the apparatus is held and after passing through a y Instead of'the cord ofcourse any desired'kind of float can be connected with the apparatus.

The cylindrical cutter ordriller C, as illustrated in Fig.l, is provided with spiral grooves or channels, which are formed by the tlangesf, the sharp edges of which serve as cutters. The cutting or drilling tool is of smaller diameter than the tube to be drilled. Toward the front end the cutting-flanges are diminished in a regular curve, and thus there is formed a conical point, by means of which the tool penetrates into the deposit tobe removed. It is preferable to make the piercing-cone of special cutters fl, which are set rectilinear to the longitudinal axis of the body C.

In the form of construction shown in Fig. 2 pins or barbs g are. inserted between the cutting-iianges, forming the screw-threading or channels, and the body of the cutter has practically a cylindrical form.

In the composite apparatus or combination of two tools, as shown in Fig. 3, a double link h is interposed between the two tools, which allows of their moving quite independently the one of the other. While one tool, for instance, is turning to the right the other can be turning to the left, and vice versa, according to the direction which the screw-threading or channels take. The speed of revolution of the two tools can likewise be different. For instance, the front cutter or driller can make tive hundred revolutions and the back one only one hundred revolutions in the same space of time. Y,

In all the forms of construction described and illustrated the cutting-flanges f form the channels or spirals through which the compressed water, steam, or air passes, driving the tool forward and at the same time turn- IOO ing it so that its course is a spiral one. The pressure medium, which inl most cases will preferably be water under pressure, washes the cutting fianges or knivesfand prevents bits which are torn away fromthe side of the tube by the cutter adhering thereto and facilitates the working of the driller by continuously washing the sides -to be Worked, and finally drives the whole of the loosened mass before the tool and out of the open end of the tube.

This apparatus is particularly intended for tubes in which a soft deposit has collected and for cleaning which steam or compressed air is to be employed as the propelling medium. The apparatus is adapted for cleaning very long pipes with all kinds of curvatures and will work in a horizontal, upward, or downward direction. The apparatus, moreover,

may also be used for cleaning short tubes-' such as those of economizers, for instancewith equal advantage.

What I claim isl. Ina tube-cleaner adapted to revolve with the longitudinal shaft on which it is mounted and be forced through the tube under fluidallel to the axis thereof, spirally-disposed ribs on the outer surface of said tube-cleaner, grooves or channels between said ribs adapted to form outlets for the pressure fluid, and means for drawing the apparatus backward through the tube.

2. In a composite tube-cleaner adapted t'o revolve with the longitudinal shaft on which it is mounted and be forced through the tube under fluid-pressure, a rotatable apex, rec= tilinear cutters diminishing toward said apex, spirally-disposed ribs on the outer surface of said tube-cleaner, cutting edges at the outermost circumference of said tube-cleaner, and swivel mechanism connecting the tools to means for drawing the apparatus backward through the tube.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

\ FRANZ NOWOTNY.

Witnesses:

GEORGE H. MURPHY, CARL OSTERMANN. 

